


Unlike the Fairytales

by PokeChan



Category: Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Angst, Angst and Tragedy, Brief Instances of OCs, Depression, Grief/Mourning, Implied/Referenced Character Death, KuroFai Olympics, KuroFai Olympics 2020, M/M, Minor Character Death, Suicidal Thoughts, Team Angst, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, did i write this in one day?, max pain: sadness road, maybe but you can't prove anything so there, no happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:13:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25961893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PokeChan/pseuds/PokeChan
Summary: If the idea itself was madness then the actual plan was beyond description.And yet, there they were, about to do their damnedest to pull it off.
Relationships: Fay D. Fluorite/Kurogane
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	Unlike the Fairytales

**Author's Note:**

> Is this a day late? Yes. But my posting day was on my birthday so I feel like that shouldn't count against me. 
> 
> Also I wrote this in a day and a half because my other idea was TOO LONG. Be kind in your voting if you are here in time to vote for the KuroFai Olympics.

>   
>  _Cherished Citizen,_
> 
> _You are hereby invited to attend the wedding of His Royal Highness Prince Fai D. Flourite and the Lady…_

Kurogane stopped reading and tossed the envelope of heavy, ornate parchment to the floor. He stood in his quarters, waiting for the anger to come, the outrage, the vicious indignation. 

All that welled up in him was the purest sadness he had ever felt. And tears. 

After years of avoiding it, playing coy and dodging dates and proposals, Fai had finally been forced into marriage by his uncle, the emperor. It wasn’t as if this was a great surprise to Kurogane, he had always known this would be the eventual outcome of his and Fai’s relationship. Fai was the crown prince of Valeria, he was destined to wed and help produce heirs and rule the empire that his family had watched over for hundreds of years. 

Kurogane had known that when he had first met Fai in the soldier barracks, four years the prince’s junior and tasked with teaching him defensive martial arts. He had known it when Fai had first kissed him under the full moon after they had snuck away from the harvest festival at the end of one of Valeria’s too short summers. He had known when he had taken Fai to bed for the first time not long after that, and every single time since. 

The knowledge had always been there between them, rarely spoken of. Like a fool, Kurogane had never prepared for the day when everything he knew to be true would inevitably come to pass. 

He fell heavily onto his bed and stared up at the ceiling. He would be there, of course. He was a soldier, a guardsman, and a more loyal man than to abandon his post the moment things got tough. He would remain Fai’s friend, in whatever capacity he needed and wanted. Their romance, however, would have to end. Kurogane would not - could not, be that sort of man. He loved Fai more than anything, it was true, but he would not hurt some innocent woman who was just as much a political bystander as the two of them just for the sake of stealing moments of fevered physical intimacy. 

Weddings such as this took ages to prepare, and invitations such as the one Kurogane had received were sent out weeks before the event took place. He would find time to see Fai and speak with him in a few days. With such an announcement there were sure to be nosy nobles and a flurry of activity in the palace and an absolute lack of privacy for any of the royal family.

x-x-x

It had been five days since they had learned of the agreement to have Fai wed to some cousin of the nephew of the king of a nearby kingdom. It had been three days since the wedding invitations had been sent out all over Valeria without request or permission from the husband-to be and two days since said man had locked himself in his chambers and refused both food and guest.

Most people believed this to be rather overdramatic, some chalked it up to wedding nerves rattling the normally cheerful and friendly prince, but Yuui knew the truth. 

In that room his brother was weeping, his heart broken and the only chance to make any part of this personal or remotely under his control was taken from him via royal courier. Yuui knew that Fai had wanted to break the news to Kurogane himself. He had been planning to sneak off one night, as he so often did, and tell his friend and lover that the fated time had, indeed, come to pass. But Kurogane would have been one of the first to receive the invitation, being a soldier who lived on the palace grounds. 

Fai had taken everything else in stride, but that one thing had been the final straw. It had broken him down and not even Yuui, his beloved twin brother, had been able to see or speak with him in two days. His heart went out to Fai, it truly did, but enough was enough. 

Soldiers adhered to a fairly strict schedule of patrol, training, meals, and recreation. It created creatures of habit and that meant always knowing where to find who you wanted once you learned their habits and schedule. It was a lovely system, very convenient in Yuui’s opinion. 

Almost no one looked twice as he strode through the soldiers’ quarters, only the newer recruits stopped to gawk momentarily at a prince walking so casually among them. But even before Fai and Kurogane had become involved, the twins had been a common sight in all types of normally odd places for royalty to be found. They both had insisted on learning from the soldiers, martial arts and weapons and command tactics. They spent countless hours in the stables with the horses and livestock, learning about the care of the animals and getting their hands dirty helping to clean. The kitchen staff had found them charming and Yuui had found a passion in cooking that he followed to this day whenever he could. Fai, likewise, had taken a shine to apothecaries that mixed potions and poisons down in the basements. 

As children they had sworn to know the ways in which their people worked, to understand the common need in order to help the common people. They had disliked how aloof and separate their parents and uncle had always been. One day, they would be in charge and things would be different. But first, Yuui needed help to get his brother back into shape. 

He stood in front of a closed door. Tried the knob, with no luck, and then knocked sharply, three times. When there was no answer Yuui could have screamed. He was sure Kurogane was above this behavior. He knocked again, harder this time. Still, no answer.

“Kurogane, I know you’re in there!” he called, and then counted to ten. 

Before he got to six the door swung open and Yuui walked inside without so much as an invitation. The door was closed behind him, plunging them into darkness, but within a few seconds a lamp was lit and Yuui got his first good look at Kurogane. 

His hair was more disheveled than usual and his eyes were rimmed red, as if he had been crying. He was dressed in a casual tunic and pants, but they were crumpled and messy, not at all how Kurogane usually presented himself, even in the privacy of his own space. The most worrying thing, however, was his expression. His usually fiery eyes were dull and his expression was one of utter defeat, something Yuui had never seen on him. I hardly looked like he was looking at the same man.

“Oh, Kurogane,” Yuui said, sympathy bleeding into his voice. 

That seemed to be enough to snap Kurogane out of his stupor a little bit. He groaned and ran a hand over his face and through his hair, shook his head, and walked to sit on the edge of his bed. 

“I look that bad, huh?” he asked, and the disgust in his voice was prominent. 

Yuui winced and considered lying, but Kurogane had never been fooled by any lie for as long as Yuui had known him, so he didn’t bother. “A bit, yes. You probably look better than Fai though,” he added. “He’s locked himself in his room. Won’t take meals or let anyone in. Not even me.”

Kurogane looked up at him, worry evident in every line of his face. “What?”

“Yeah, ever since the royal invitations were sent out,” he said. “Fai wanted to break the news to you himself, but the mail was too fast. He’s been inconsolable ever since.”

Yuui knew that Kurogane was coming to the same conclusions as he had about Fai’s train of thought. That Fai believed that because he hadn’t told Kurogane the news himself, Kurogane took the marriage as a personal offense and now hated Fai and never wanted to speak to him or see him ever again. Which, as far as Fai was concerned, with the state of affairs, was the end of the world. 

“I’ll go talk to him,” Kurogane said, standing. He took a few steps towards the door and then paused and looked back, sheepishly, at Yuui. “Could you give me, uh, a few minutes to…” he simply gestured at himself. Yuui smiled and exited Kurogane’s quarters, waiting outside of his door until his friend was presentable enough to pay a visit to the crowned prince of Valeria.

x-x-x

Fai sat, staring out of his window, wondering idly if a fall from this height would be enough to kill him without fail or if the court healers would have a chance to save his life given enough time. Their guards were far too efficient to not notice him fall, he’d be tended to almost immediately. Would sneaking up to a higher tower be worth the trouble?

His thoughts were interrupted but another knock at his doors. Dinner had already come and gone and his parents had only bothered with him once. He guessed it could be Yuui again, but the knock was so loud and Yuui’s tended to be gentle, almost like trying to coax Fai to open up. Not that it mattered who was on the other side of the door, Fai was not going to answer it. There was no point. 

Another knock, louder and more insistent. 

Perhaps if he held something heavy when he fell out of the window it would crush him enough to-

_KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!_

“Go away!” Fai shouted, now actually irate and whoever was being so damned persistent in bothering him in the middle of his morbid daydreams. 

“Open the door!” called a voice from the other side that Fai had been positive he would never hear speak to him again. 

He tripped twice in his haste to get across the room and he flung both of the double doors wide open, ready to have been made a full fool of, but no. There was Kurogane, standing before him and looking like he was happy to see Fai. Happy! Of all the unexpected things. 

“Kuro-rin?” Fai squeaked as tears welled up in his eyes. 

“Why would you think I wouldn’t want to see you just because some stupid letter got delivered before you could talk to me?” Kurogane asked, and the way his voice caught made Fai’s chest ache and his stomach churn at the thoughts he had had about leaping from his window. 

Behind Kurogane, Yuui cleared his throat. “You guys should take this inside,” he suggested. “I’ll knock if anyone is coming and you can hide Kurogane in the wardrobe or something, but the corridor isn’t the place for a conversation like this.”

Taking his brother’s sage advice, Fai pulled Kurogane into his chambers and closed both doors behind him with a slam. He could hear Kurogane begin to speak, but he didn’t care what he had to say at the moment. He took two fistfuls of Kurogane’s tunic and used the grip and surprise to press him against the closest wall and devore his mouth in a kiss so hungry it bordered on dangerous. 

Even if Kurogane didn’t hate him their time together was limited. Their days were numbered and the pain of that clawed at Fai. He didn’t want to waste a second of it on things so trivial as words. Kurogane was a man of action, he would understand how Fai felt. Understand why Fai _needed_ them to take action together right now for he would surely fall apart into nothing but dust. 

Indeed, Kurogane did indulge them both in several minutes of heated, hungry kissing. Their hands roamed over one another, frenzied and clumsy, like newly introduced bedmates rather than well acquainted lovers. It was exactly when Fai moved to undo Kurogane’s belt that he found his hands stilled by Kurogane’s and a stern, breathless voice telling him to stop. 

“Why?” Fai begged. He didn’t understand. Everything had been going just fine until that moment. “Please just-”

“No,” Kurogane insisted. “No, not right now. We need to talk about this first.”

“I don’t see why.” They had always known this was coming. What more was there to say? Neither of them were the type of man to go behind a woman’s back once an oath had been pledged, even if there was no love in such an oath. Fai had thought they were at an understanding. 

Clearly not, with the way Kurogane was frowning at him. 

“You locked yourself away and refused to eat for two days, and who knows how much longer you would have gone if your brother hadn’t come to find me,” he said. “You can’t shirk your responsibilities on to him whenever you’re feeling dramatic.”

“I don’t see why I even have these responsibilities!” Fai snapped. “Yuui has always been the better choice to be next in line for the throne, it’s only because I’m older that they insist it’s my duty.”

Kurogane had heard this rant before, and the tired sigh that came in response was expected. “I know, but you’re the elder prince. Maybe once you’re emperor you can change those laws but until then, so long as you’re here, you are the one who will take the throne.” 

Changing hundreds of years of rigid tradition was more than drafting a few new laws, Fai knew. And that still didn’t solve his current dilemma. He was still going to have to marry this woman he had never met because he was still the elder prince of Valeria. Just like Kurogane had said, so long as he-

“Wait a minute!” Fa said, an idea forming so quickly in his mind he could hardly keep up. “That’s it!”

Kurogane eyed him, equal parts baffled and cautious. “What is?”

“Exactly what you said, so long as I’m here. The solution is so easy I can’t believe I’ve never thought of it before!” Fai laughed, and he knew he looked like he was on the edge of hysterics, and maybe he was. He didn’t care. “I simply won’t be here anymore! Neither of us will be!”

“What?!”

x-x-x

If the idea itself was madness then the actual plan was beyond description.

And yet, there they were, about to do their damnedest to pull it off. 

It would begin with Fai and Kurogane sneaking out in the middle of the night and heading west towards a mountainous area well known to be unstable and dangerous. There, they would stage a rockslide down into a ravine far too dangerous to attempt a recovery from, leaving just enough “evidence” to leave no question about it having been Fai and a guard who had been crushed to death in the unfortunate accident. Once that was finished they would head south and then south east until they were just beyond the borders of Valeria. After that it was a matter of finding a small village to settle down in and begin their new lives as simple commoners. 

Between Kurogane’s physical abilities and Fai’s apothecary knowledge the two of them should be able to eek out a liveable existence in blessed obscurity. They would stay close to Valeria’s borders and wait to hear of the day Yuui properly assumed the throne after the passing of his and Fai’s uncle and parents. It would only be then that they would be able to send word to Yuui that they were alive and well. 

There were many risks, and if even a single thing went wrong failure was assured, but after some wheedling, Kurogane had been convinced that they had to at least try. It was a small chance, but it was a chance nonetheless for them to be happy. So, with Yuui’s tearful blessing, they planned and set off days shy of Fai’s wedding. 

Kurogane knew Fai felt guilty at abandoning the mysterious woman, but she would be consoled by Yuui, who planned to wed her in Fai’s place. Treaties and promises would be honored and all would be right with Valeria. One day Yuui would even be able to begin bridging the gap between the ruling class and the common folk, opening communication and understanding and bringing forth a new reign of prosperity for sure. All in good time. 

Finding a ravine to get far too many rocks to fall into was disturbingly easy, and with more than a little man power on Kurogane’s part they were about to shove a dirtied and torn up piece of cloak underneath a sizeable boulder. They scattered a few more items down in the cracks to properly sell the idea of what had happened. Kurogane surveyed their work and felt that it was passable enough. Even more so if it took a few days for anyone to pick up their trail and the elements were about to have their way with the evidence. 

“Let’s get moving, dawn is less than an hour away and we want to be as far from the capital as possible before someone realizes you’re missing.” Kurogane pulled himself up onto level ground and turned to give Fai a hand up when he saw him pulling out a flask and screwing it open. 

He didn’t have the chance to chastise him about taking a drink so leisurely before Fai flung the contents on to the rocks down near the bottom of the ravine. Instead of water, what looked very much like blood came pouring from the flash, arching crimson and splattering darkly on the stones and cloth below. Kurogane’s surprise must have sounded because Fai turned and smiled at him somewhat apologetically. 

“Sorry, Kuro-sama,” he said, screwing the cap back on. “It was a last minute idea. Pig’s blood to really sell our deaths.”

It was a good idea, Kurogane had to admit, even if it was a bit startling. 

Flask tucked away, Fai reached up for Kurogane’s hand and they were off. 

Their journey in its entirety would take about a month, traveling by foot. Once they were far away enough from the capital, if they had caught word of the crowd prince’s supposed death, they would chance catching a ride if possible. It was late in the season, and the winters of Valeria and her neighbors were deadly. If they were caught without lodgings before the first snowfall they were as good as dead. Simple as that. 

Kurogane had planned their checkpoints and half a dozen alternative routes in painstaking detail. He would settle for nothing less than the minimum of distance he had calculated they needed to cover before the rested. They would rise before dawn each day and begin moving again. Any time they had that made it appear that they were ahead of schedule would be meant to save their asses in the event of any unforeseen delays. He was stern in this, and while Fai whined, even in the planning stages, Kurogane knew that he ultimately understood the need for such a rigorous itinerary. 

They were already behind on their first night. The moon was high before Kurogane decided that they had traveled far enough to make camp.

Fai slumped tiredly against a tree, the weight of even his slight frame shaking loose a few pine needles into his hair, but he either didn’t notice them or didn’t care. “Give me just a few minutes and I’ll go find firewood,” he said.

“No fire tonight,” Kurogane answered, already working on pulling together some detritus for camouflage. 

“What?” Fai exclaimed. “We’ll be freezing! Sure, we probably won’t _die_ of the cold but-”

“Do you want to get us spotted?” Kurogane interrupted. “A fire is a great way to do that. Everyone is looking for you by now, we need to keep low profiles. Besides, we’ll be plenty warm sharing a bedroll.”

There were a few beats of silence before Fai squeaked out a quiet, “Oh,” and helped Kurogane build a difficult to spot lean-to. It wasn’t badly made, if Kurogane said so himself. Someone would have to be specifically looking for something like it to spot it at all easily. 

Fitting two fully grown men into a single sleeping roll, even the largest one Kurogane had been able to find and bring with them, was no easy feat. They were pressed together toe to shoulder, legs tangled awkwardly in an attempt to make more room, arms either pinned at odd angles or bent uncomfortably. It was far from ideal, but after some squirming and cursing they managed to find a suitable enough position to settle into for the night. 

Fai was tucked under one of Kurogane’s arms, his face a little squished into his chest and his arms both pinned between their bodies. One of Kurogane’s arms was outside of the bedroll, wrapped around Fai’s shoulders and serving as a makeshift pillow for his head while the other was bent slightly, allowing his hand to rest on the small of Fai’s back. In another day or two they were due to hit a small village that was more of a trading post than anything and Kurogane would either take the time to trade for a larger bedroll or simply sew this and Fai’s single one together. A few nights of this wouldn’t be the end of them. 

“This wasn’t exactly the romantic first night together under the stars I had envisioned,” Fai whispered. “But it’s not too bad.” 

Kurogane snorted. He could hear the smile in Fai’s voice, but more than that he could tell the comment was an attempt at levity against something going on in his mind. 

“We’ll have plenty more nights we can enjoy under the stars,” Kurogane said. “An entire lifetime of them.”

Fai snuggled a bit closer. He was quiet for a long while and Kurogane thought that perhaps he had managed to fall asleep, but then he spoke again, voice even quieter, and without any hint of a smile. “I miss Yuui.”

All Kurogane could do was tighten his grip on Fai. He missed Yuui as well. He was in love with Fai, but Yuui was one of his best friends, and leaving him behind was no easy decision for either of them, though it had to have been a much heavier weight on Fai’s heart. They had had each other since before they were born. This was the furthest apart they had been in their entire lives. Kurogane couldn’t imagine the pain. 

“We’re hardly a day away from home, but already I’ve seen more of our country than Yuui has, or will.” Four generations of royalty had never left the capital city. A growing sense of both paranoia and superiority kept them locked up in the palace, and only very rarely setting foot out into the city itself. Kurogane knew for a fact that Fai and Yuui had only ever seen their city from the windows of the palace towers. 

“He’ll travel one day,” Kurogane said. “He’s not going to hide from the world like all the others have.”

“That’s still so far away,” Fai said. “I hope you’re right, though.”

After that there was no more talking for the rest of the night. Fai began snoring after some time, a quiet, gentle sound that was muffled by Kurogane’s chest. Kurogane dozed, never falling asleep properly, just in case. 

They were up and moving just as the first few rays of sunlight began to crest over the horizon. Fai yawned and shivered then entire morning, foregoing words of complaint for disgruntled noises and pouting. By midday he was like his usual self, if a bit subdued because of a poor night’s sleep and sore feet. They made good time on the second day and by the third they had reached the village Kurogane had expected. 

Three days of hard travel had done more for Fai than any disguise they could have fashioned ever could, but they still pulled his golden hair up into farmer’s cap and made sure there was plenty of dirt smudging his face and hands to disillusion any princely vibes he might have still had. Kurgane had also instructed him to keep his mouth closed, speaking as little as absolutely possible. The people of the back roads country might not have been classically educated, but they were not stupid. The fewer hints that Fai was high born the better.

x-x-x

Fai parked himself on a fallen tree off the side of the road and waited for Kurogane to return with supplies, and maybe the wonderful news of having haggled for a night’s stay in a real bed. He knew Kurogane had forbade any such thing, especially while they were still so close to home, but such a tiny village was sure to be safe enough for one night, right?

He didn’t hold out much hope. 

He was watching people go about their business, content and hardworking people Fai would never have had the chance to meet if he hadn’t run away with Kurogane. People his uncle and parents thought below them. Once more he felt guilty about leaving the duty of fixing the relationship between the nobility and common people to Yuui alone, but Yuui had been so sure that they were doing the right thing by leaving. He had given Fai and Kurogane his blessing and Fai had to trust that his brother had not lied to him. If for nothing else than simply out of respect for who his brother was as a person. 

Suddenly, there was a commotion within the village and Fai was on his feet and running towards the rapidly growing crowd before he had even thought about it.

A hundred thousand things ran through his mind as he searched the crowd for Kurogane. Had they been found out? Was someone from the capital here to spread word that Fai was missing and not, in fact, dead like they wanted everyone to believe? Was his faked death too much and now a war was on with the home country of his newly widowed fiancee? 

He hadn’t made it more than a few steps into the crowd when Kurogane appeared at his side, face grim. He grabbed Fai’s arm and pulled him away from the people chattering all around them.

“We have to go, _now_.” He offered no other explanation and Fai assumed there was someone from the capital in the village with some sort of news they didn’t need to hear. 

He followed Kurogane towards the road leading away from the village, but then he began to catch bits and pieces of the news, as more and more people spoke about it in the streets. 

“- royal family-”

“- princes dead-”

“- killed-”

Snippets here and there as they passed. At first, Fai thought that they had found the scene he and Kurogane had created, but assumed they had been murdered instead of falling victim to an unfortunate accident. But the more he listened the less likely that seemed to be what everyone was talking about. 

“- assassinated!”

“- all of them-”

“- good riddance!”

The sun was setting before Fai realized what the news had actually been. Why Kurogane had been so quick to get them out of there - get him out of there. The stiff, empty look on Kurogane’s face, the silent way he marched forward. Fai’s legs gave out and he collapsed. 

“There was an assassination,” Fai said numbly into the cold evening air. 

“Fai, we have to keep moving,” Kurogane said. It was what he didn’t say that confirmed it for Fai. Kurogane never lied, it wasn’t his style, but even he couldn’t bring himself to acknowledge it. 

“All of them?” Fai asked. There should have been tears. He should have been weeping there in the dirt on the side of the road. Nothing came, not emotions or tears. Emptiness was all he could feel. 

Kurogane didn’t say anything. He just walked over to Fai and grabbed his arm and hauled him to his feet. “Keep moving,” he grunted, but Fai only made it a handful of steps before falling to his knees again. Behind him, Kurogane cursed. 

“Uncle had always talked about how the people hated us, how we should never trust them,” Fai said, his voice hollow and distant. His gaze was unfocused. He kept seeing Yuui’s face, the sad smile he’d worn as he bid Fai farewell, promising that they would see each other again one day, when life was more fair. “He was obsessed with how they would one day try to kill him, us.”

Life would never be fair. What fools they were. 

Kurogane knelt down in front of him, took his face in those large, warm hands that Fai so often found comforting. They brought no such thing now. “We can’t change what happened,” he told Fai, voice firm and level. “It sounded like this was planned for months, maybe years. It’s pure dumb luck that you weren’t there, too.”

Kurogane was right. Fai should have been there as well. Fai should be dead, just like his brother. The only reason he was still alive was his selfish desire to run away from his responsibilities. He had shoved his duties onto his brother and left and now he was the only one alive, thanks to his selfish decision and idea. 

“I should have been there,” he said. “I should have been there with Yuui.”

Fear and shock warred on Kurogane’s face as he began to understand what was going on inside of Fai’s head. Both were soon replaced, however, with the familiar expression of anger. 

He shook Fai and growled. “You weren’t though! We left! He _helped_ us leave! So that we could live better lives together! Don’t throw that away, you idiot! Get up and get moving!”

He was right, of course. Kurogane usually was. But Fai couldn’t. He just… couldn’t. He loved Kurogane, oh how he loved him, but how could he go and live a happy life with this man after he had abandoned his brother to die alone? He didn’t deserve it.

x-x-x

Kurogane watched him, waited for Fai to make a move to stand. When he didn’t after several too long minutes he cursed. Cursed everything he could think of, and then grabbed Fai, and slung him over his back, and started marching. They had a lot of ground to cover and if Fai wouldn’t make sure of the sacrifice Yuui had made for them, then Kurogane would work twice as hard to make sure they succeeded.

At least, that was how he had intended for things to go. A week later and they were two full days behind schedule. Fai had eaten less than a full meal in the entire time since they had found out about his family and nothing Kurogane did or said could snap him out of it. Even Kurogane’s determination was beginning to wane.

They were both lying together in their shared bedroll, made much larger by Kurogane the night after their stop in that village. The fire Kurogane had made had stopped burning hours ago and was no longer even smoldering. In the dark he couldn’t quite tell if Fai was awake or not, but he would get the same response either way, so he spoke his mind.

“I’m not going to give up, you know.” He pulled Fai closer to him. “I’ll carry you the entire way if I have to, but I’m not going to let this chance we have go to waste. Yuui would want us to keep going.” 

No answer, as expected. 

“I’m going to get you to eat in the morning, and then we’re going to make up some of this lost time. We can’t get caught out in winter. So rest up, because we still have a long way to travel.”

In his arms Fai was as still as the grave. Just as he had been all day. Kurogane had already checked his pulse three times today, each time it was there, not nearly as strong as it ought to have been, but enough. In the morning Kurogane would wake up, and so would Fai. In a few weeks they would reach the southern border of Valeria and begin carving out their new lives together. They would, there was no other option. Kurogane refused to even envision another outcome.

**Author's Note:**

> **Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment and follow the link to vote if you're reading this before October 2020!**   
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